Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation

Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation is a self-funding charitable organisation dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the world’s first Garden City

We help to make Letchworth a stimulating place to live and work with a thriving and engaged community, maintaining the unique architectural and cultural character of the town to ensure it continues to inspire those seeking to create spaces that combine the best of town and country. We support, fund and promote activities for the people of Letchworth Garden City, with everything driven by our charitable commitments to Environment and Heritage; Recreation and Leisure; Education and Learning; Health and Wellbeing; Charities and Charitable Activities. Under these headings we run and fund: a historic art deco Cinema, Broadway Cinema; a community hub; a treatment centre; a 13 mile Garden City Greenway path around the town; the International Garden Cities Exhibition, Garden City Collection, community gardens, an arts centre; a minibus service;

a Shopmobility service; a community farm; the Local and Tourist Information Centre and a world class cultural programme.

Grants are also given to local individuals, sports clubs, community groups and charities to fund a vast range of activities. We also operate a “Scheme of Management” to preserve the architectural appearance and character of the world’s first Garden City.

All our activity is driven by the desire to further our contribution to the town and its people and promote the Garden City movement.

We put Letchworth’s residents and organisations at the centre of all work, ensuring our commercial activity is used to make Letchworth a unique place to live and work.

We seek to create an environment that encourages businesses to thrive and grow in the town, stimulating prosperity and creating jobs.

As the world’s first Garden City we continue to be an international blueprint for a way of living that has inspired developments across the world. The International Garden Cities Exhibition is a unique attraction accessible to anyone interested in the Garden City movement.

Find out more about the work of the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation on our website www.letchworth.com/ heritage-foundation

We manage our assets to generate income which we then invest into the community and infrastructure of the Garden City.

When First Garden City Limited was created in 1903 to build Letchworth Garden City the company was gifted commercial land and property; the profits from which have been reinvested back into the town ever since.

We now actively manage these and other assets to maximise revenue so we can then invest the funds into a wide range of charitable activities in the town.

A Board of volunteer Trustees establishes strategy and considers and approves policy. Governors are drawn from the community, some are appointed because of the skills they have, and others are elected by the residents and organisations of Letchworth Garden City. They represent the views of the town, working with and engaging local people.

Heritage Foundation Key Facts

Letchworth Estate: 5,500 acres/2,225 ha Our Foundation portfolio: 185,567 sq ft of offices (23% of our portfolio), 181 industrial units (61%) and more than 100 shops (16%). Rural Estate: 1214 ha/3,000 acres Greenway: 21.8 km /13.6 miles Commercial Farm land: 906 ha /2241 acres Foundation average Income: Total annual income: £9,800,000 Charitable Activities spend: £4,800,000 a year on average Population: 33,249 Households: 13,990

Age ranges (national average in brackets) 0-15 19.64% (18.91%) 16-24 9.88% (11.85%) 25-44 25.78% (27.53%) 45-64 25.87% (25.37%) 65-90+ 18.84% (16.33%)

Education 5,213 school pupils 11 primary schools 3 secondary schools 2 independent schools 1 pupil referral unit 1 special needs academy Employment & Commercial Whole town: Number of employees: 14,700 Employment land: 100.5 ha (248 acres) No of business premises: 777 Business Sectors: 21% Distribution, 22% Manufacturing and 57% Services

Housing Average house price 2014: £260,000 Social housing 32% (18.5% in England as a whole)

Learning Barn at Standalone Farm

Ernest Gardiner Treatment Centre